Improvement in cartridges



L. A. MERBIAM.

Cartridge.

No. 211,665. Pafentedlan. 28,1879.

Fig- 2.

WI TNEssEs v INVENTOR Q i W fl m' um-rsn smr s A N F INCOL A. MERRIAM, OF'NEW Yonmn. Y.

IMPROVEMENT INFCARTRID'GES.

Specification forming. partof Letters Patent No. 211,665, dated January 28,1879; application'filed v To all whhm it may concern;

Be it known that I, LINCOLN A; MERRIAM, of the city, county, and- State of New York,

have invented certain new and useful Improveprojectile than has heretofore been attained.

-H e m cartridgesihaxehee iconstructed. to.

explode in such ,a manner as to strike a severe blow on the shot in starting it,greatly.'strainin g the piece and giving a severe recoil. This unscientific construction of th e' cartridge limits the amount of the explosive used, and consequently of the results,-by the, upset of the bullet', the strength of the'gun, and the endurance of the man. Some progress has been made by the use of a coarser and slower explosive, and various eiforts have been made to obtain betterresults by dividing the explosive into small quantities and successively exploding them, as the Crarypatent of 1871,- which claim is not here contested, butmay be under a future application. Allenergeticexplosion,however instantaneous it may appear to the eye, is the aggregate of minute explosions, in accomplishing which time is an element. This knowledge of the. true principle of combustion teaches that it is only necessary to provide for the direct .pressureiof the gas upon the projectile from v the beginning ofthe-explosion, and to adjust the time of the combustion to the movement of the projectile through the bore of the gun.

To efl'ect this 1- construct my cartridge, Fi'gure 1, with an-eloiigated and continuous powder-chamber, inclosed by the 'projectile and exterior and interior shells, A and B, soarranged as to delay the burning of the explosive, and at the same time secure the direct 'action' 1 of the gas upon the projectile during the whole period of the explosion.

7 It is obvious that additional interior shells.

or anvil.

September 4, 1s77.

or tubes, B, may be used, and these shells, exterior and interior, may be drawn, forged, or punched from steel, brass, or other suitable material. The size andlength of the bore of the gun must determine the proportions of the powder-chamber, which will be found best adapted to its uses when made of varying capacity, and lighted at the smaller end. I effect this by tubes, which may be united at the base or other suitable point of the cartridge'by a threaded screw or any other suit; able device. e

A flange, 0, may be made, turning inward at the base of the exterior shell, to receive theinterior tube, B. This flange, under the pressure of the explosion, will operate as a gascheck on the joint seen at E, Fig. 1. .I do not intend, however, to confine myself to this method of inserting and attaching the interior tube. It may be constructedso as to form a considerable part or the whole base .of the cartridge, with the exterior shell united to it at anydesirable'point, or in any required manner; and the poi'nt of ignition may be either within or outside of the interior tube;

. The part L of the shell A, Figs. 1 and 2, may be drawn or reduced to a cylindrical, hexagonal, or any other form required to fit; the projectile and retain a uniform thickness,

Fig. 3; or the shell may be reduced cylindrical f on the outer surface, as shown at M, Fig 4,, and "so thickened as 'to conforin on its interior surface, at L, to any shape of the projectile required.

To. explode the cartridge with a primer-I make at its rear end a small cylindrical cavity, having a flat or slightly concax e base, as

shown at F, Fig. 1, which may be pierced at any desirable pointlor points to admit the 'fire to the explosive-within the cartridge. 1 construct my primer G with flanged sides, carried sufficiently forward to form on the sides of the cavity a gas-check to thevent, in the wellknown manner, and construct the. base in an irregular form, that will give it a greater superficial area than a flat surface, and which will be most readily moved forward bylthe striker or firing-pin to the base of the cavity, there to be exploded in the impact upon it without the interposition of the usual nipple 'jectile, substantially as described.

and with least danger of bursting.

What I claim is-'- 1. The cartridge having inside tube'to contain. apoition of the charge, said tube extending nearly, bntnot quit'e,.to the base of the 'pro 2. In combination, the gas-check-flange-O,

operating in the manner described.

3. The interior tube, 0, with a flange at the rear, forming or covering a part or the whole equivalent, as described; v e

4. The primerG, with the cupped and -corrugated base, constructed in'the manner and for the uses described- 5. In combination,theprimer'G,constructed of thebase 0f thehcartridge, and attached'to the outer shell by a threaded screw or its as described, and the base of the cavityvF, constructed, arranged, andoperating in the manner and for the purposes described.

' In witness whereof I have subscribed. my name hereto inthe presence of two witnesses.

haying a screw-thread, and the screw-threaded shell B, forming the joint E, constructed and v LINCOLN A..MER IAM.

- Witnessesz- OG'IAVE WHITTAKER,

J. H. PA soNs; 

